Three bills are soon to be introduced to the Prince George’s County Council that deal with the subjects of equity, transparency and accountability in policing. They concern the following: mandatory body cameras for all county police officers; noncooperation between police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in cases without a judicial warrant; and required notification and power of appeal in the shared gang database. Councilmember Deni Taveras is the lead author of these bills and has worked in close contact with the organization CASA, which supports Latino and immigrant communities in Maryland, and the Peace & Justice Coalition of Prince George’s County.
Taveras recounted the incident that drove home for her the need for police body cameras. A Spanish-speaking witness to a hit and run accident was mistaken by police as the perpetrator: their interaction escalated into a beating. When a passing bystander was able to make the situation clear to the officer, the beating stopped, but only after the witness had been injured severely enough to be hospitalized.
This accountability bill stipulates that, in a case without incident, the camera footage would be held for a minimum of six months. In the case of a complaint, the rule would be to hold the footage no less than three years.
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